G. R. Gopinath Biography 
G. R. Gopinath is a politician, writer and entrepreneur known as the founder of Air Deccan. He has also served as the captain of Indian army and spent 8 years here. His full name is Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath and he is the author of the book - “Simply fly”. Air Deccan later merged with Kingfisher. Yet this captain is known for the contributions he made to Indian aviation sectors as well as innovative idea of low cost airlines. He has received the highest civilian award conferred by the French Government - “Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur”. He was knighted by French Government in the year 2006.
He was born in a middle class family of Melkote, Karnataka on November 13, 1951. He has 7 siblings. His father was a school teacher. He taught Gopinath at home and later joined him at a school at the age of around 10. He joined Sainik School, Bijapur in the year 1962 and he cleared National Defence Academy (NDA) exams three years later. He graduated from Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Later he spent 8 years in Indian army and established an ecologically sustainable sericulture farm after his retirement. He visualized the development of the country through his innovative ideas and laid the foundation of the idea of “low cost airlines”.
In 1997 he co-founded Deccan Aviation, a charter helicopter service. In 2003 Gopinath founded Air Deccan, which merged with Kingfisher in 2007. After that he had a brief stint in Indian politics, though unsuccessful. At present, Deccan Charters is his prime focus area. He was honoured with Rajyotsava Award by Karnataka government in the year 2005.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 21, 2014
